Samurai Japan did just enough against rival South Korea during what amounted to an entertaining dress rehearsal for the Premier12 final.
Now the Japanese will head into the gold-medal game hoping practice makes perfect.
Japan scored six runs in the third inning then had to overcome several rallies by the Koreans in order to secure a 10-8 win in the final game of the Premier12 Super Round on Saturday night at Tokyo Dome.
“This was a really difficult game,” Japan manager Atsunori Inaba said. “The South Korean lineup really has a lot of good batters.”
The two sides will meet again Sunday night in the Premier12 final. Mexico and the United States will square off for third place, and a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, earlier Sunday.
There wasn’t much on the line for either team Saturday night — except pride, as Japan improved to 6-9 against South Korea since the 2000 Olympics. Both were already locked into the final — Japan now will enter as the first-place team — and the Koreans clinched the Asia/Oceania Olympic berth on Friday.
That didn’t stop them from putting on a show in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Big Egg.
Ryosuke Kikuchi and Tetsuto Yamada each drove in two runs for Japan while six other Japanese players finished with one RBI apiece.
Yoshihiro Maru, who plays his home games at Tokyo Dome with the Yomiuri Giants, was a near-constant presence on base for Japan, finishing 3-for-4 with a walk.
Yudai Ono earned the win for Japan. Lee Seung-ho took the loss.
Kang Baek-ho was 2-for-4 with three RBIs for South Korea.
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times
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